Rosa

By: Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by:
Bryan Collier

Rosa Parks was an ordinary woman who became a hero because she "was not going to give in to that which was wrong." A catalyst for the famous Montgomery Bus boycott in Alabama, she turned the nation's attention to a glaring injustice in our society.

All-of-a-Kind Family

By: Sydney Taylor
Illustrated by:
Helen John
Meet the “stair and step” girls, Ella, Henny, Charlotte, Sarah, and Gertie who live with their parents on the Lower East Side of New York at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa

By: Veronica Chambers
Illustrated by:
Julie Maren
Celia Cruz began singing on the streets of Havana as a child. She grew up to become a legendary singer and lasting influence on salsa. Bright, bold illustrations echo the vibrancy of the music in this handsome picture book biography.

Egypt: In Spectacular Cross-Section

By: Stephen Biesty
An imagined journey on the Nile River in the time of Ramses II (around 1279-1213 BC) begins when 11-year-old Dedia and his father travel to a wedding in Piramesse.

Lucy Rose: Here’s the Thing About Me

By: Katy Kelly
Lucy Rose realizes she is a “smart cookie,” but is still thrown by the changes in her life, which include a move to Washington, D.C., where her grandparents live. She narrates her own story in this fresh, fast, often funny, and always plausible novel.

Oh, No! Where Are My Pants? and Other Disasters: Poems

By: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by:
Wolf Erlbruch
Everyone has had a moment or a day in which nothing seems to be going right. These short, gently illustrated poems not only recall some of these uncomfortable moments, but are sure to help readers recognize the humor in them.

Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China

By: Ed Young
Spare text and highly textured rice paper illustrations combine in an unusual format to provide a glimpse of China, the creator’s homeland. Chinese characters placed on each page add to the poetry of the entire book.

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq
By: Jeanette Winter

In spite of looming war, librarian Alia Muhammed Baker was able to save the books from the library of Basra by moving them to safety. Simple forms and deep colors in a naïve style evoke the war without being explicit.

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